Asheville
is located at the junction of Interstates 26 and 40, with an I-240 connector
that passes through the downtown district. Hendersonville is located to the
south of Asheville off Interstate 26. The Blue Ridge Parkway also passes through
the Asheville area with a number of accesses.

Landing in Asheville:
The main gateway to the area is the Asheville Regional
Airport, 15 miles south of downtown Asheville on I-26. This airport is serviced
daily by major carriers with connections to all major cities. The airport has an
8,000-foot runway and modern navigational aids, including a wind shear detection
system. Facilities are also provided for corporate and private aircraft. The
airport also has a Welcome Center that provides information, brochures, maps and
souvenirs to visitors. Other highlights include a full service travel agency,
remodeled ground-level commuter passenger concourse, expanded restaurant and
bar, and a resurfaced runway. Asheville Regional Airport: 828-684-2226,
www.flyavl.com.

Driving Tips
Though relatively small, if you choose to drive in Asheville, you may find the
street system a bit confusing at first. All streets are named rather than
numbered, and as the city has evolved, some streets have become split into
unconnected sections. Two important examples are Patton Avenue and Broadway.

Patton Avenue is split into a downtown section and a West Asheville section. The
Smokey Park Bridge, which is actually part of I-240, runs between the two
halves.

Heading north out of downtown, Broadway becomes Merrimon Avenue. One block west
at the same point, Lexington Avenue heading north becomes Broadway. Most places
listed in this guide with Patton Avenue or Broadway addresses are on the
downtown extensions of these roads, but you would be wise to call ahead for
directions to be sure. Also, like most city centers, Asheville’s downtown has
several one-way streets.

One other navigational oddity is how one gets to I-26 from most areas of
Asheville. Even though I-26 runs east out of Asheville, you will usually take
I-240 or I-40 west to access it because I-26 begins at the juncture of I-240 and
I-40 on the far west side of Asheville.

The most direct route, though certainly not the fastest, between Hendersonville
and Asheville is US 25. This non-interstate-grade thoroughfare changes names
several times between and even within the two cities, being called Spartanburg
Highway on the Flat Rock side, then Asheville Highway in Hendersonville,
changing to Hendersonville Highway halfway to Asheville, briefly turning into
Hendersonville Road, becoming Biltmore Avenue once reaching Asheville, then
turning into the downtown section of Broadway, and finally becoming Merrimon
Avenue leaving downtown headed north. I-26 is a much better route between these
two cities with much less congestion and isn’t hampered by US 25’s many traffic
lights. But as several of the addresses in this guide are on its various
sections, you should be familiar with the different names to avoid confusion.